Calm Before the Storm
by Rose the Alcoholic BlueBird
Summary: Ace was always protective, but the Whitebeard Pirates did not realize the extent of it until Luffy finally sets out for sea.


**Rose here. This is a little something that Alcoholic and I came up with, so we hope that you enjoy it!**

**I just love ProtectiveAce~**

**Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece, though I sure wish I did most days.**

They all knew the day was coming.

It was inevitable, really. The day was bookmarked on every calendar you could find on the ship. There was not a single commander who didn't know - in explicit detail - what the red circle around May 5th meant. Ace had, since he joined the Whitebeard pirates, told them time and time again.

And yet, when the day finally came, the entire crew was taken completely off guard by Ace's reaction.

Only Marco and Whitebeard really seemed to see it coming, but then, there was a reason that they were the captain and first mate. From the moment Ace's eyes had lit up at something as simple as the name "Luffy", they had known. There was no stopping what happened next, nor did they waste their energy to try otherwise.

The first days passed rather smoothly, despite the regular reminders that Ace's little brother had recently set out to sea. However, the peace only lasted so long after that. It was, in complete truth, the calm before the storm.

And boy, did the storm come in.

It was a bright and sunny morning, completely opposite of what was in store for the rest of the day. Ace had just woken up to the breakfast call, marching to the mess hall with his ship brothers and sisters.

Still half asleep, with eyes heavily lidded, he stumbled into the room and helped himself to the food laid out before him. Armed with his small mountain, Ace trudged to his usual seat next to Thatch and across from Marco.

The man didn't seem to notice, in his sleepy haze, that there was not a paper in sight, and his crewmates refusal to make eye contact. Instead, the second division commander was focused on the dream he was forced to leave behind as he lazily shoveled food down his throat.

He glanced over at Marco, the only one who seemed able to stare him in the eyes. The man's lazy expression seemed... different... Slightly on edge, perhaps? The fire user swallowed quickly, chugging a glass of milk before turning to the first division commander.

"I wonder how Luffy's doing..." Ace started, only to have the commander chuck the newspaper at him instantly in response. Reacting quickly and without thinking, Ace let his temper get to him and the newspaper caught on fire. Thatch and the others quickly jumped away from the angry flames as Ace turned to Marco with a scowl. "What the hell was that for?"

Marco watched with a slightly amused smirk, before replying, "That's the only newspaper with news of your brother on this ship. Straight from the East Blue, too. I'd be careful if I were you."

Ace froze, eyes immediately locking onto the cheerfully burning newspaper. The edges had begun to curl up as the words were eaten by the hungry flames. "No! No!" Ace panicked immediately, blowing on it rapidly, only to have the flame grow bigger. Finally, Ace stole Thatch's milk and dumped it onto the paper before it could be completely destroyed.

"Hey!" the man lightly protested with a scowl, though he didn't seem too eager to get on Ace's bad side at this moment in time. Ace didn't even acknowledge the other man, his attention completely on the singed and drenched paper.

"For someone made of fire, you really don't know how to deal with fire," Marco replied dryly.

"Shut up!" Ace snapped at him before returning his attention to the paper. He could barely make out the headline. Smudged printed words glared up at him.

"Captain Morgan faces defeat..." Ace read to himself. "Don Kreig falls from his throne...Fishman Arlong's castle topples..." Ace's eyes roamed the page, searching for Marco's promise of news on his little brother. When none was found, he chucked the soggy paper back at Marco while glaring at him accusingly. The action was so sudden that the sopping mess managed to catch Marco in the face. Thatch could not help his laughter as the wet newspaper comedically slid off of Marco's very much annoyed face. "Liar. Luffy isn't in it at all."

"He is. You would have been able to see that if you hadn't burnt over half of it up," Marco said dryly, grabbing a cloth and wiping off his face. Ace glared at the other man suspiciously, but grudgingly asked him what the paper had said about Luffy. Ace was a proud man who rarely set that aside, but to see him do such a thing over something as small as information about his brother... Marco smirked. "I dunno if I should tell you. You just threw a burnt, wet paper at me."

"Please Marco." Ace gritted his teeth in anger. Marco's eyes rose, but still he did not give up the information. By this point, the entire Whitebeard Crew was watching with rapid attention. No one had seen Ace act like this until now, after all. Ace was practically shaking in fury at Marco's refusal, but he was desperate for information on Luffy and punching Marco definitely would not help.

Marco lifted one hand to his ear and cupped it as though he could not hear what Ace had said. "Sorry, what was that?"

Ace did not hesitate, no matter how angry Marco's baiting made him. He stood from his seat and bowed his head to Marco, humbly asking for what the paper said about Luffy, his hands fisted at his sides.

Marco's eyebrows shot up at this behaviour from Ace. "Wow... All I wanted was an apology for having milk-soaked paper thrown at me."

Ace straightened, and stared into Marco's eyes. "I apologize for the paper." His fists were white and shaking, impatience obvious through his tense form.

Marco stood, as if considering his words, before finally nodding. "Very well," He said, ignoring Ace's sigh of relief. He hummed in thought before repeating, as if by memory, "Captain Morgan faces defeat at the hands of newly self acclaimed pirate captain, Monkey D. Luffy. After defeating Morgan and his son, Monkey escaped with a prisoner that the marine base has confirmed as Roronoa Zoro, pirate hunter. Not long after, Don Kreig falls at the hands of a no name, straw hatted pirate outside of the sea restaurant, the Baratie. Two days later, Arlong Park is brought crashing to the ground and Arlong himself as well as his crew's heavy hitters are taken into custody by the marines. The Marine's claimed full credit for the last one, but the fact that "Straw Hat Luffy's" bounty was released the next-!"

Before Marco could finish, Ace cut him off, "That rubber-brained idiot! What the hell was he thinking?" Thatch rolled his eye. Despite the annoyance and worry in the words, they also held a note of pride. Then Ace seemed to notice something. "Wait... Bounty? Where's the poster?"

Ace glanced around the room as if the poster would pop out from the walls. But, he was out of luck. He turned back to Marco, a look of horror on his face.

"Was it... Was it..."

Marco only smirked, glancing at the remains of the paper which lay in a disappointing pile on the floor. Ace instantly made a grab for it, jumping over the table and almost landing on Marco. Instantly, the paper fell apart beneath his touch. Ace stared at the pulp with devastation, all hopes dashed in a single instant. Marco laughed at the pathetic scene, and he wasn't the only one. Behind them, Izou and Haruka stifled their giggles while others were beyond coherence as they leaned against their neighbour for support.

Ace didn't even have the heart to tell the lot of them off as he silently poked at the mushy remains of his only news on Luffy. Taking pity on the depressed Commander, Marco sighed.

"It's hanging up with the others," Marco muttered, jabbing his thumb towards the wall that was covered with bounties. Though made of mainly of the Whitebeard Pirates' bounties, the wall also held those of a few allies. Ace perked up immediately, racing to the bounty-covered wall. Quickly scanning the surface, he saw a new poster right next to the one displaying his own little price tag.

Luffy was grinning in his poster, something Ace was not surprised to see. The teenager hadn't changed the least bit since Ace had last seen him three years ago, and he found himself breaking into a small smile as he took in Luffy's picture. It was just nice to see his brother again, even if it was because of a government issued warrant. Just knowing Luffy was (somewhat) safe made him feel better and the fact that Luffy was following his dream made him happier.

"Thirty million... That's not bad," Thatch said with a low whistle as he came up from behind Ace. He looked almost thoughtful as he continued, "Isn't that higher than your first-"

He was cut off by a sharp glare from Ace. While it was true, Ace didn't want to think about the fact his baby brother had a higher starting bounty than him. At the same time, he was proud of Luffy. He was doing well on his promise of becoming strong.

The crew watched, laughter fading as they smiled softly at the scene. Finally, Ace would shut up about his little brother now that he knew he was safe. Or... so they thought.

It was only hours later that Thatch found Ace holed up in his personal quarters. He had not seen Ace since breakfast and finally decided to check on him. Even with his narcoleptic fits, Ace missed meals rarely. They hadn't been surprised that Ace hadn't shown up to lunch, but they had grown weary when he didn't make an appearance after to scrape up some leftovers.

"Ace... are you...?" Thatch began, strolling into the quiet room. Whatever he was going to say died on his tongue. With his back to the door, Ace was crouched over a large collection of small Den Den Mushi of different styles. Surrounding him, various books were cracked open as Ace peered at the small numbers on the pages.

"Yes? Is this the Baratie?" Ace started into the receiver, and Thatch could distinctly hear screaming from the other line. Ace listened for a few moments before continuing, completely unfazed, "Yes, I was wondering if you saw Straw Hat Luffy a few weeks ago..."

The line went silent, before a muttered response gave a weary affirmative answer. Whatever the poor guy was expecting was not what he got. "Oh good, tell me all about him! How'd he fight? How..."

Thatch stared at the scene for many moments, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Ace had entered some kind of Mother Hen mode, badgering the confused man on the line for every little fact that could be remembered concerning Straw Hat and his fights.

The man was only saved when a little black Den Den Mushi let out a quiet beep. Instantly, Ace ditched the one he was talking into, throwing it aside without a care, abruptly cutting off his interrogation.

"Ace, is that..."

Ace seemed to notice Thatch for the first time, but didn't pay him very much attention, much too focused on the mushi styled specifically for eavesdropping. Ace... shouldn't have that. Not only were they marine technology that was rarely found outside of the military, but it was also extremely difficult to hack connections without marine training.

"Stole it from Gramps before I left," Ace said shortly, before the fuzzy sound of bad reception filled the room. Between the fizzles, the two pirates could hear orders being shouted and demands being made. For a moment, the line went silent and then returned with much better reception.

"Orders from the Captain!" a marine barked, "Buggy has Straw Hat Luffy on the execution platform. Don't make a move until Straw Hat's head rolls!"

The line went quiet again and Ace and Thatch were left in the dead silent room.

"Ace..." Thatch took a quick step back. Wisely too. Not a moment later, Ace went up in angry flames as he stared desperately at the Den Den Mushi, careful not to allow the destructive fire to burn the precious communication device.

It fizzed back in, the sound of footfalls and rain and the occasional clash of swords in the background. "Execution in three... two..."

Ace's body seemed to freeze, but his fire had no such reserve and Thatch had to move quickly to avoid it. The sound of thunder echoed through the room, and Ace's fire died as quickly as it had come. Ace was pale, almost frightened and Thatch felt awful.

Only hours before, the crew had been teasing Ace about his brother's bounty poster, joking and celebrating Ace's brother... and now... Luffy's adventure had come to a startling and sudden end.

"Lightning struck the platform! Move in - there's no way the two could have surv-!" it was cut off as the marine suddenly sucked in a deep breath. It was as though he had the air knocked out of him. "HE'S ALIVE! STRAW HAT LUFFY JUST STOOD UP!"

Ace practically folded in half with relief at the shocked shout as the marines descended into chaos at the miraculous survival of both of the infamous pirates.

"That idiot has the luck of the devil, I swear." Ace muttered, trying to calm his frantic heartbeat. Thatch himself let out an audible sigh of relief. He was thankful that Luffy was alive, but more so at the fact that Ace would not spend the next few years wallowing in sorrow at the loss of his baby brother while hunting down each and every marine and pirate involved in the incident.

Somewhat satisfied, Ace turned back to Thatch. "So whatdya want?"

It took Thatch a good moment to remember what exactly he had come to tell Ace.

"Pops decided to celebrate your brother's first bounty," Thatch said, still trying to get over his shock from the events that had just taken place. "Extended family, y'know. And hey, there's never a bad reason to throw a party."

He shrugged as Ace's face lit up. The words and sentiment were simple enough, but it meant a lot to Ace. Even if they had never met him, his ship-brothers wanted to celebrate Luffy's success with him. What did he do to deserve such fantastic people in his life? He hopped to his feet quickly, about to head out the door when Thatch gave him a strict look.

With a dramatic sigh, Ace fished the Den Den Mushi out of his pocket and threw it onto the hammock. After another look, this time eyebrows raised, Ace huffed and withdrew two more before holding his hands up in surrender.

Thatch grinned, clapping Ace on the back before leading him out of the room. A promise from long ago echoed through his thoughts as he walked along side his crewmate.

"_I'll come find you once you get your first bounty_," Ace had told Luffy. Ace had every intention of sticking to that, too. But for now, he would celebrate with his family.


End file.
